Following WEC 48 success, Reed Harris says WEC could head to PPV three times a year

Although World Extreme Cagefighting General Manager Reed Harris is waiting for the final numbers to come (and plans to keep those numbers private), the WEC’s pay-per-view debut by all accounts exceeded expectations.

“I don’t have the official numbers … and it could take a couple months,” Harris today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “We had a number internally we were [aiming] for, and we far exceeded that according to the early estimates.”

With the success of those PPV “buys” – which industry insiders have pegged at up to 150,000 to 200,000 – Harris said the WEC could host another PPV show by year’s end. And soon, he said, he’d like to see the organization hosting three major PPV events per year.

“I don’t think that would be would something we couldn’t attain,” Harris said.

The PPV debut, “WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber,” marked the organization’s for-pay debut on April 24. Soon after Zuffa LLC, the UFC’s parent company, purchased the company in late 2006, WEC shows began airing on Versus.

However, with a stacked card that included WEC featherweight Jose Aldo vs. Urijah Faber in Sacramento, Calif., which is Faber’s hometown and a host site that has produced some of the WEC’s largest attendance and gate figures in history, Harris and Co. finally had the lineup they needed to justify a $44.95 pricetag.

What most fans don’t know, Harris said, is that the hurdles had been cleared for the WEC to host a PPV show long ago.

“We actually had permission from Dana (White) and Lorenzo (Fertitta) a year ago,” Harris said. “But we waited because we wanted to have a compelling event.”

WEC 48 provided that. In addition to the Aldo vs. Faber title fight, lightweight champ Benson Henderson defended his belt with a first-round victory over Donald Cerrone. Additionally, Manny Gamburyan made his case for the next shot at Aldo with an upset of ex-champ Mike Brown, and Shane Roller and Scott Jorgensen moved deeper into title contention with victories on the night’s main card.

However, one of the night’s vital fights came on the night’s Spike TV-televised preliminary-card special. The UFC’s longtime cable partner aired two “teaser” fights on basic cable, and one of them has already been declared an early favorite for “Fight of the Year” honors. Leonard Garcia edged Chan Sung Jung via close split decision in that bout, and the back-and-forth affair proved so captivating that it drew many fans to the PPV broadcast.

But one thing noticeably absent from both broadcasts was WEC branding. In the weeks leading up to the fight, UFC officials confirmed they’d use their own broadcasting team and ring announcer for the broadcasts. Additionally, all WEC branding was stripped of the broadcast, and the show was marketed as a UFC event.

Due to broadcast contracts, the lack of WEC branding was a requirement to get the preview fights on Spike TV, which has an exclusive cable deal with the UFC. (Versus wanted to air the fights, but the station had already committed to programming from the NHL and Stanley Cup playoffs.)

Add in the fact that White had replaced Harris as the event’s frontman, and some fans were left wondering if the UFC had somehow trampled on the WEC’s biggest night. Harris, though, said that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“That’s funny, and you can really quote me on that,” he said. “We work for this company. I work for Zuffa. We sat down and asked, ‘What’s the best way to drive fans to this thing?’ It was agreed Dana would be the frontman. He is the most recognized man in the sport. To not utilize him would have been a big mistake. … We couldn’t have bought that type of advertising.”

Despite the lack of branding on the broadcasts, Harris knows the WEC brand received a big boost from WEC 48’s success. And he said it’s not the UFC or WEC or White or himself who is to thank for that.

“At the end of the day, it’s about the fights and the fighters,” he said. “Our fighters delivered … when it meant the most. We’re all very thankful to them. It was a big night for all of them.”

Harris expects a surge of interest in the organization and thinks it’ll be reflected in ratings for WEC 49, which takes place next month in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Despite less starpower on the card, Harris thinks fan will tune it to see the type of lighter-weight excitement they witnessed at WEC 48.

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